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Keeping Your Personal Information Safe While You’re Online by Craig Middleton offers sound and easy advice for online users of all ages and experiences. By now you have no doubt heard about high-profile cyber attacks, but cybercriminals are happy to go after ordinary people in addition to governmental agencies and large corporations. Thanks, Craig.

Introduction

• If you’re a college student, your two best friends may be your laptop and the internet. Much of what you do in higher learning is online, from researching various sites to get info for a paper you’re writing, to accessing the school’s and each teacher’s online learning platforms. With all the demands of life you need to pay attention to, staying secure on the internet is probably one of the last things on your mind. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are counting on your lack of attention to this very important detail. Next time you’re putting your nose to the grindstone with your schoolwork, consider these four easy steps to keep your information safe while online.

Use Free Wi-Fi Carefully

• Most college students don’t think twice about using the free wi-fi in the school’s library or a coffee shop to fit in a little studying during a break between classes. The library is a great place to get ahead in an environment of peace and quiet, but this study choice has one caveat you must be aware of: the school’s internet is on a public network. Spending time online while on a public network makes you vulnerable to a cyberattack.
• So, What is a cyber attack, you might ask? A cyber attack is an unlawful effort to compromise a computer or computer network. Usually, this is done with the aim of sharing, destroying, or stealing digital information. Using free wi-fi offered on public networks makes you a prime target for someone wishing to compromise your computer. All they need is a basic software tool to access your information.
• There are many ways to keep your information safe while using the internet at school, but the following three steps are a good start. First, make sure you don’t use the same password for all of your log-ins. Secondly, ensure that you are on the public network that belongs to your school. Finally, disable file sharing while you are on the public network. This will go a long way in securing your personal information while using the internet at school.

Visit Secure Sites

• Studying and researching for your classes takes you to a wide variety of sites, including some you may not be very familiar with. Making sure to only visit secure sites is a vital way to protect your information while online. The good news is that a secure site is easy to distinguish from a harmful one. If the online address has a lock symbol before it and begins with HTTPS, you can rest assured you are safe to visit that site. (Doug: Note that my site’s address is https:DrDougGreen.Com)

Beware of Unusual Links and Attachments

• A common way that your information is compromised online is by clicking on harmful links and attachments, often sent to you through email. What might look like an email from a trusted company or organization could be a virus or malware attack in disguise. The easiest way to tell if a link or attachment is harmful is by checking to see if there are spelling errors or if the email is coming from an address other than the one you would expect from a company. If either of these things are amiss, you are probably dealing with a cybercriminal and you should steer clear. (Doug: For example, if you got an email from Verizon, be sure that the address of the sender ends in Verison.Com. Also, if you get an email from a bank where you don’t have an account it’s probably spam. Update: Today I received an email from Sprectrum saying “Action Required.” When I checked the address of the sender it said mmecomn@carolina.rr.com>. This clearly is not from Spectrum so I erased it.)

Use Strong Passwords

• Using strong passwords is one of the simplest ways to protect your information online. With all of the online accounts you have to juggle, it can be very tempting to use the exact same password every time to make remembering them easier, but this is one of the cyber criminal’s favorite weaknesses. If one account becomes compromised, then they will all fall victim. Be sure to use a different password every time you create an online account. As a college student, you have enough to worry about as it is. Don’t add the security of your online information to that list. Follow these four simple steps and you won’t have to think twice about it.

Craig Middleton

• Craig is a New York City-based retired business consultant, who is an expert in education and cultural trends. He has a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters in Education from St. Johns and loves sharing his knowledge on the side through his writing. If you have any questions or comments you can direct them to Craig at craigmiddleton18@gmail.com.

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Dealing With Cyberbullying in the Era of Remote Learning by Amanda Winstead offers sound advice for parents, educators, and students on this timely topic. The key is communication and making time for it. Since cyberbullies leave a digital trail, it’s vital that students feel safe when it comes to sharing this type of abuse with adults they trust.

Introduction

• Education is often in a state of evolution. Standards change, learning theories develop, and certainly, budgets make their difference. One of the ways that teachers, students, and parents have seen developments in the last decade or so, is the inclusion of digital tools as a day-to-day part of school operations. Everything from artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithm-driven assessments to social media continue to be adopted in learning environments.
• This technological acceptance has also been instrumental in keeping classes open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote learning has kept students and teachers connected. Not to mention that these distant learning tools make education more accessible for both K-12 kids and other young adults. However, it can’t be denied that bullying is still a concern. Though the physical boundaries of the classroom have been removed, cyberbullies have found ways to continue inflicting abuse in various toxic forms.
• Let’s take a look at how parents and teachers can best deal with cyberbullying, especially when it comes to keeping environments around children safe and secure.

Maintain Awareness

• When schooling is being offered at home, there aren’t the same ground rules that prevent device use during lessons, and as such, the culture of near-constant connection through smartphones can make bullying seem inescapable. Therefore, teachers and parents alike need to maintain an awareness of the methods used for cyberbullying. Girls are usually the most common recipients of cyberbullying, and there is a tendency for those aged 15-17 to be targeted through mobile email and their social media channels. This often takes the familiar forms of name-calling and rumor-spreading but occurs in a very public space.
• It’s also worth noting that cyberbullying doesn’t just occur on social media, but is increasingly present in gaming, and even the comment sections of websites. This can make it all the more difficult for teachers and parents to address, as it occurs on platforms that are disconnected from the classroom and in the public domain.
• The upshot is often one of the best tools against cyberbullying is the ability to recognize signs it may be occurring. Alongside knowledge of the methods that might be utilized, keeping vigilant of how students’ behavior has changed can help to guide intervention. This could include anxiety or reluctance to use online platforms as part of their school work, reticence to discuss their social media platforms or share their accounts, and generally becoming withdrawn. It can even present as less enthusiasm for utilizing technology when it may have been a key interest in the past.

Keep Talking

• Cyberbullying, like most other forms of abuse, thrives in silence. In remote school settings, it can be easy for students to feel disconnected from friends and teachers or feel that there isn’t a platform to discuss their problems, causing additional stress. Therefore, teachers, parents, and students need to work together to ensure there is always a space for discussion.
• This begins with making sure that there are accessible communications channels. Certainly, teachers should ensure that both students and parents are provided with contact details to arrange meetings if there are potential issues. However, there should also be regular time set aside for educators to check in with individual learners. School administrators must allow time in the schedule for teachers to have conversations with students about how they are doing, and talk about things they are concerned about. Indeed, providing remote access to the school’s counselor can create a valuable safe space.
• That said, there also needs to be effort put in place for open discussions. Schools need to educate remote students on how bullying presents and the consequences it can cause. For instance, in teenagers, body image is likely to affect their self-esteem and mental wellness. Society and the media — including social media — have often advertised unattainable standards, and this can be weaponized by cyberbullies. Teachers need to talk with their remote classes about this and help them to recognize when appearance-based bullying is designed to hurt them rather than being an accurate reflection of reality. Keep students part of this discussion, too, encouraging them to share behaviors they find concerning, and how you can all work together to address them.

More Serious Concerns For Teens

• Many of the methods of cyberbullying are going to be through social media platforms and other means that most teens are already familiar with, such as abusive comments on social media channels, harassing emails, and so on. However, one of the more concerning issues that can affect teenagers is revenge porn. This is largely when a former sexual partner publicly posts private explicit images online as a form of particularly damaging revenge. This causes not just personal trauma, but can also impact the victim’s sense of self-worth and their ability to trust others. While there are laws in 34 states against the non-consensual publishing of explicit images, on top of the added complications if the victim is under 18, this does little to impact the situation.
• Schools and institutions need to let their learners know that they have access to support. Provide them with documentation on what to do when they encounter cyberbullying, particularly in more serious forms of harassment like revenge porn. Give them guides as to what their immediate actions should be — filing Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requests, and contacting the police. Where possible, provide free or subsidized online counseling services. Above all else, make it clear that being a teen doesn’t mean they should be less sensitive to cyberbullying, that your institution takes it seriously, and they will be treated respectfully.

Conclusion

• Remote learning can provide the distance and isolation that can help cyberbullying to thrive. Teachers and parents must take time to understand the methods and signs of this form of abuse and maintain an open dialogue to help combat it. Important too is ensuring that all remote learners have a robust system of support to handle the damaging types of bullying they can face.
• Amanda Winstead is a freelance writer out of Portland, Oregon focusing on many topics including educational technology. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter @AmandaWinsteadd.
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